Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
WHAMMY!, Los Angeles
In the 1970s, a collective of artists, journalists, filmmakers, and cultural agitators from Teresina transformed Super 8, then a domestic Kodak technology, into a language of avant garde cinema. Influenced by Tropicália, Brazilian cinema de invenção, and figures such as Torquato Neto, Ivan Cardoso, and Luiz Otávio Pimentel, names like Edmar Oliveira, Xico Pereira, Dogno Içaino, Antônio Noronha, José Alencar, Carlos Galvão, Arnaldo Albuquerque, Durvalino Couto, and Haroldo Barradas created films that challenged narrative codes and the repression of the dictatorship with freedom, humor, and critique. Works such as Adão e Eva do Paraíso ao Consumo (Adam and Eve From Paradise to Consumerism, a lost film), Terror da Vermelha (The Terror of Vermelha), Aterro (Landfill), Coração Materno (Mother’s Heart), Tupy Niquim, Porenquanto (Forjustnow), David Aguiar, Miss Dora, and Um Sonho Americano (An American Dream) show how this group built a decentralized and collaborative production network between Teresina, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, and Belém, using cinema as a tool of aesthetic invention and political resistance. Today this body of work is recognized as CINEMA MARGINAL PIAUIENSE, a symbol of an intense experience of experimentation, friendship, and rebellion that transformed the margins into a creative force. ## Program One: A Dream in Piauí The films of the Cinema Marginal Piauiense cycle are among the very first ever made in the state. Before the emergence of this group of filmmakers and artists, the idea of making cinema in Teresina was nothing more than a distant dream. The arrival of Super 8 cameras represented a true revolution, making not only filming but also the developing process much more accessible and democratic. With the support of Dr. Antônio Noronha in financingproductions, the union of a group of rebels connected to counterculture and the arts, and the return in 1971 of the already famous Torquato Neto, poet, journalist, and Tropicalist lyricist, this dream began to turn into reality. Neto, whose presence brought legitimacy and inspiration to the movement, helped to drive this creative scene forward. Our opening session presents the pioneering works of this cycle. After the completion of O Terror da Vermelha (The Terror of Vermelha, 1972), many of the participants left Teresina in search of study and work, but the underground legacy remained and the seed of cinema had already been planted. This session traces that first moment of growth. ## The Animations of Arnaldo Albuquerque In addition to working as cinematographer on many of the films from the Cinema Marginal Piauiense cycle, Arnaldo Albuquerque also stood out as a director, as seen in this program with works such as An American Dream (1973). His creative vision, however, extended beyond live action cinema, reaching into many other forms of artisticexpression. Renowned for his talent in design, photography, and illustration—particularly in comics—Arnaldo also holds a unique place in history as the creator of the first animated films made in Piauí. Three of these pioneering works were preserved and digitized by Cinelimite in 2023. At once masterpieces of Brazilian animation and radical experiments of the counterculture, these shorts—each about three minutes long, produced between 1977 and 1980—will be screened at the opening of each session of the program. Films: CARCARÁ, CATCH, KILL AND EAT (1977) DE **ARNALDO ALBUQUERQUE** THE TERROR OF VERMELHA (1972) BY **TORQUATO NETO** AN AMERICAN DREAM (1973) BY **ARNALDO ALBUQUERQUE** MOTHER'S HEART (1974) BY **HAROLDO BARRADAS** MISS DORA (1974) BY **EDMAR OLIVEIRA** DAVID AGUIAR (1975) BY **DURVALINO COUTO** This screening will feature an video introduction from **Edmar Oliveira** - director of “Miss Dora” and star of Torquato Neto’s “The Terror of Vermelha”. Followed by an in-person conversation with filmmakers **Chica Barbosa** and **Leonardo Pirondi**. ~ 90 minutes ## 7:30 DOORS8:00 SCREENING *Screening courtesy of* *[Cinelimite](https://www.cinelimite.com/)**, a São Paulo-based non-profit organization dedicated to exhibiting, distributing, and digitizing repertory Brazilian Cinema.*